A Nelsonville Ghost Story
by Katarina Ariadne Navane
Summary: I was in a play of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" at Stewart's Opera House in Nelsonville Ohio and the legends of the building, plus the story I was helping to act out inspired this story. R&R!


A/N: I wrote this for English class. Just want to say, I'm working on the next chapter of my main fic, A   
Few Die Hard Fans (a ffx fic) and thought my loyal readers might want something to read while I'm   
working on it. It takes place in Nelsonville Ohio, a town near Athens (where I live) in Stewart's Opera   
House. I was inspired while I was in "A Christmas Carol" there (I played Scrooge's sister: Fanny only she   
was called Franny in our version of the play) to write this story, which just so happened to fit the criteria   
for the English assignment. Oh, and everything I say about Juanita and Bob is true. My mom was running   
the spotlight, so she knows about Juanita's escapades, and I was there when Bob made the light explode   
over Mitch's head. I was standing not 3 feet from the infamous light.   
A Nelsonville Ghost Story. You can see pics of me and a few of my friends and fellow actors in costume in   
our version of this play at www.wergerprint.com Hit the "winter 2002" link at the bottom of the page.   
  
By Katarina Ariadne Navane  
  
In the year 2052, though the surrounding area was quite different, the Victorian   
Nelsonville Square hadn't changed much since 2002. In any case, the sidewalk was still   
paved with the famous "Starbricks," and Stewart's Opera House was still in operation.   
They still performed youth plays there, and an annual performance of A Christmas Carol   
continued to be staged. It had been years, of course, since Julie (who directed it in 2002)   
had stopped directing it, but there was always someone to carry on her good work.   
Like most theaters, Stewart's Opera House was haunted. Many years ago, several   
great fires had ravaged the opera house. During these fires, several people had died.   
Since then, the building had been made more fire safe, but the second floor of the   
dressing rooms was still charred, and off-limits, and numerous odd sightings and   
occurrences had been noted.   
The most well-known of the ghosts were Juanita and Bob. Those weren't their   
real names, of course, but that's what everyone called them since Nikki forgot their real   
names and named them that. Juanita haunted the light booth, and Bob was a "Peeping   
Tom" in the dressing room. Juanita and Bob could be described as poltergeists. They   
never actually hurt anyone, and they weren't evil. They just tend to pull the occasional   
prank so they don't get bored. Juanita tends to do things like changing all the settings on   
the spotlights when they are pre-set. Bob's biggest stunt was exploding one of the back-  
stage lights over the head of one of the actors. Glass flew everywhere, and there was   
quite a commotion, but no one was hurt. However, this story is not about Juanita and   
Bob.   
This story is about Amy and Phillip. Amy and Phillip were not ghosts. They   
were actors, but not very good ones. In A Christmas Carol, Phillip played Young   
Scrooge, and Amy played Belle; the girl he had once loved. It was dress rehearsal, but   
their performance still needed a lot of work.  
"I see another has replaced me in your affections," Amy recited blandly.   
"Who? Who has replaced you, Belle?" Philip responded in a monotone.  
"Gold," Amy barked at the audience, "I can see you love gold more than you love   
me. Our engagement is an old one. Made when we were both poor and content to stay   
so. I now release you from our engagement."   
"Stop! Stop!!" yelled the director from the her seat in the audience, "I can't take   
this anymore! I want to see some emotion!! Fine, continue!"  
"Have I ever asked you to release me?" queried Phillip, looking confused.   
Perhaps he didn't mean to look confused, but he did and it was a nice touch.   
"In words, no, but in your changed nature..." she trailed off. "Line?"  
"It's dress rehearsal!!!" shouted the very stressed director, "It's too late to ask for   
a line! Just do the best you can!"  
"Um... You have made it clear to me that my love no longer matters to you. I   
hope that someday you may dismiss the recollection of our love as merely an unprofitable   
dream. May you be happy, Ebenezer, in the life that you have chosen for yourself," she   
recited very quickly before stomping offstage. The director smacked herself in the   
forehead in exasperation as Philip exited on the other side of the stage.   
"This is going to be a disaster," she muttered to no one in particular.   
Amy retired to her favorite couch in the backstage lounge/dressing room to think.   
Usually, she was a great actress. It was just that she had had a major crush on Philip   
since the 5th grade. Every time she saw him, her mind went blank and she couldn't   
remember any of her lines or blocking.   
It was funny, she expected to see at least a few of her fellow actors in the   
backstage lounge/dressing room, but it was deserted. She didn't even hear the familiar   
clank of chains that was the actor that played Marley removing his chains. She suddenly   
felt very cold, regardless of her heavy wool costume. She found herself gazing at the off-  
limits charred second floor of the dressing rooms. She could have sworn she saw   
something up there move...  
Just then, she heard a voice coming from directly above her, in one of the decrepit   
dressing rooms.  
"I saw you out there," warbled the voice. It sounded like a girl, about her age, but   
it had a bizarre, calm, clear tone to it.   
"Are- Are you Juanita?" Amy stammered, glued to her seat with fear. The figure   
producing the voice giggled as it slowly came into view, walking down the stairs that led   
to the make-up tables.   
"No, silly girl," the figure bubbled as it descended the staircase. That staircase   
had been too rotten to walk on, and therefore barred off and covered in bric-a-brac, for   
years but the figure glided right through any obstacles. "Juanita haunts the light booth.   
Didn't you know? My name is Natalia."  
"Wh- What- Why-?" Amy couldn't speak. She was simply too afraid.   
"Do not fear. I have come only to help you," Natalia purred. By this point she   
was standing unnaturally still at the base of the deteriorated staircase.   
"You sound like the ghost of Christmas past," Amy teased, still a bit nervous.   
"I have seen this play so many times I know every line. And this year's   
production would be the best yet if it wasn't for one scene," Natalia continued,   
undaunted.  
"Mine?" Amy asked, dubiously.  
"Yes. And I know why too," she added without missing a beat.  
"You know about Philip?" she asked, astonished.  
"I know everything you think about. But liking Philip can help your   
performance," the spirit explained.   
Amy wondered aloud, "It can?"  
"All you have to do is really get into your character. You are Belle. Phillip is   
Scrooge. One of my comrades, Anthony, is talking to him right now. I must go soon, but   
first, a word of advice. If a man named Maxwell ever offers you a peanut, take it and   
good fortune will be yours. I must go now," and with that final word, she faded away.   
  
She must have fallen asleep, because she had the strangest dream. It was in   
London, in the 1800s. She dreamt that she was Belle, but Scrooge looked very familiar.   
It was a truly odd dream.  
She awoke to the sound of applause. She was standing on stage at Stewart's   
Opera House, in costume. She looked around, bewildered.   
"What's going on?" she asked Marcus, who played Bob Cratchit in the play and   
was standing next to her.  
"Uh, duh!" he responded, "It's curtain call? Opening night? You did a great job   
by the way."  
"Ope- Curta- What?" she was utterly confused. Marcus looked at her like she   
was a moron and turned to take another bow. Philip appeared to be in about the same   
state of bewilderment.   
"You got visited by a ghost too?" wondered Philip. Amy nodded. "You want to   
go out sometime?" he asked, completely out of the blue.   
Amy opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the cast, breaking out into   
a spirited rendition of "Joy to the World." She nodded to Philip and proceeded to the cast   
party.   
Amy was in A Christmas Carol every year after that, but all spectators, living and   
dead, agreed that no performance ever topped the one that Amy didn't even remember. 


End file.
